Speed regulator for dynamo electric machines



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

'H. S. MAXIM.

SPEED REGULATOR FOR DYNAMO ELECTRIC MAGHINE8.

No. 255,310. Patented Mar. 21,1882.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets8heet 2.

H. s. MAXIM. SPEED REGULATORFOR DYNAMO ELEOTEIG MACHINES.

No. 255,310. Patented Mar. 21,1882.

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HIRAM S. MAXIM, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO TIIE UNITED STATES ELECTRIC LIGHTING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. 'Y.

SPEED-REGULATOR FOR DYNAMO-ELECTRlC MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,310, dated March 21, 1882.

Application filed July 30, 1881. (X0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM S. MAXIM, of the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Regulators for Dynamo-Electro Machines, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

The object of this invention is to automatically regulate the speed of the steam-engine employed to drive one or more dynamo-electro machines, so that the same shall at all times produce a current sufficient in amount for accomplishing the work required thereof in a external circuit. For instance, suppose the dynamo-electric machine is used to generate a currentfor m aintainin g electric lights arranged in multiple arc in any given circuit. If all the lamps in the circuit are brought into operation, then the (lynamo-electro machine will be required to be run, say, at its maximum speed in order to produce a current of sufficient amount to supply all said lamps, and its driving-engine will consequently be required to be run' at a high speed also; but if a portion of the lamps are switched out of circuit, then, the supply of current being in excess of that actually needed, the dynamo-machine will not be required to work at its full capacity. As a saving of power, and to maintain the intensity of the light uniform, it is therefore necessary to reduce the speed of the engine in proportion to the work required of it, and the object of this my invention is to bring about these reductions or acceleration of speed. This I accomplish by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a section on line 00 a Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is adiagram illustrating the connections between the dynamo machine and its driving-engine and between the latter and its boiler, showing the location of my invention as applied to use.

Referring to Fig. 3, the letter A indicates a dynamo-electric machine, the belt-pulley on the armature-shaft a of which is connected by a belt, I), with a belt-wheel, I), on a shalt, D, driven by crank-connection, as shown at W, with the piston b of the steam-engine B.

O and 0 indicate the steam-pipe leading from the boiler D to the valve-chest ofa steamed by said annular enlargement.

engine, said steam'pipe forming an angle at c, where the part 0 connects as an inductionpipe. Inside of this valve-chamber E, which has an annular enlargement, E, is arranged a hollow slide valve, F, which fits closely the main portion of the chamber, and is surround- The valve F is provided with stcan'i-ports f to said annular enlargement, that are opened more or less, according to the position of valve]? in its chamber. When the valve moves to the left the ports are opened, and when it is moved to the right they are closed by being carried into thatportionot'thevalve-chamberwhich closely surrounds the valve. Steam passes through the portion of the steanrpipe C through the annular enlargement, and thence through the ports 1" to the interior of the valve F, and through its open end in the direction of the arrow to that portion Got the steam-pipe which leads to the valve-chest of the steam-engine; so it will be seen that the position of the ports f with relation to the annular enlargement governs the quantity of steam which flows to the steam-chest, and consequently controls the speed of the engine. The automatic devices for controlling the position of these ports are as follows:

The valve F has a stem, F, which extends through a stufting-box, f, in the head of its valve-chamber, and outside of said chamber this stem is provided with two projections, g 9, between which fits loosely a stud, h, projecting laterally from the lower end of an oscillating lever, H, which is pivoted at its middle to an arm, H, extending horizontally from the upper side of the head of the valve-chamber.

From the upper end of the arm H a stud, h, projects laterally and fits loosely between the projections g on a piston-rod, I. At one end this piston-rod I carries a piston, K, which plays in a cylinder, K, mounted upon the top of an annular enlargement, E, of the valve- 1 chamber E, and provided with the steanrpassages k and k in its lower wall, arranged for alternate connection by means of valves l and l with a steam-passage, L, leading into said annular enlargement.

The valves l and Z are connected to a common valve-stem,L, having a head, L to which is connected one end of a spiral spring, M, the

5 supported by the pillars N and the arm H,

projecting from the head of the valve-chamber E, said screw being adjusted normally to give such tension to the spring M that it will draw the valve-stem L outward or to the lel't.

The letter 0 indicates a pendent frame, pivoted at its upper end between posts 0, projecting from the plate N, and carrying at its lower end a cylindrical armature, P, arranged adjacent to the oblique faces of the poles of an electro-magnet, Q, supported in a vertical position. by a bracket, 42, projecting from said plate N.

Through a cross-ba1, ),otthe frame 0 is arranged an adjusting-screw, p, the conical tip of which enters a correspotnlingly-shaped socket in the end of a rod, R, the other end of which bears upon the head L of the valvestetn L, so that when the armature l is attracted by the cores of the magnet Q the rod R will be caused to force said valve-stem inward; but when said armature is not attracted the spring M will draw said valve-stem outward to place the valves land 1 in their nor- 0 mal positionsthat is, so that the valve Z will close the steam-passage L, and the valve l will open the passage k, so that it will admitsteam to the left of the piston K, in which position the piston-rod I will be carried to the right,

5 the projections g causing the lever H to act upon the projections g of the valve-stem F, drawing the valve F to theleft. hen, however, the armature P is attracted by the magnet the positions of the valves 1 and L will be a e reversed and steam admitted to the right of piston K, causing the valve F to be driven to the right and nearly closing the portsf, so that but little steam will pass to the 'alve-chest, and the speed of the engine will be correspond- 5 ingly slow.

in order to give steadiness of motion to the piston K, the end of the piston-rod I opposite said piston passes through astufting-box, s, arranged through the plate N, and is provided with another piston, S, which plays in a dash- 6o ment of the piston.

ton S works is regulated.

pot, T, projecting horizontally from the plate N, and provided in its upper wall with the connected passages t and it, through which a liquid in the dash-pot may pass from one side of the piston to the other.

The letter U indicates a vertical rod, the lower end of which projects into the opening t between the two sides of the dash-pot, through which thehquidis forced by the move- The extent to which the said rod closes the passage t is regulated by the nut a, and itis maintained in the position to which it is adjusted by the spiral springV. By this means the rapidity with which the pis- The upper portion of rod U passes through a suitable guide, a, above which it is provided with the screw-nuts a and a under the latter of which projectsa finger, 0, from the armature-frame O. Thetinger 0 is arranged to come in contact with the stop a when the armature is fully depressed, so that the rod U is raised only when the magnet is cutout of circuit. In this case itis essential that the engine should be immediately stopped, and this is effected by the sudden movement of the piston-rod I and piston S, which encounters comparatively little resistance when the passage t is fully opened, asit would be by the full movement of the armature-frame and the consequent withdrawal of rod U by the linger o.

The magnet Q is arranged in a derived circuit, shown by the wires to and 10., connected respectively to the wires \V and W,which are the terminals of the main line connected with the dynamo-electric machine A, as shown in the diagram Fig. 3, and Forming the electriclight circuit, in which are arranged thelamps y, in an ordinary manner, in multiple arc.

The operation of the invention as now described is as follows: The valve F being in its normal position to the left, the throttle-valve is opened and steam passes from the boiler through the portion of the steam-pipe C to the valve-chamber I through the annular enlargement E, ports f, and valve F to the per v tion of the steam-pipe C which leads direct to the valve-chest, starting the engine gradually under a full head of steam, which drives the dynamo-machine at a speed sufliciently high to fully charge the main line \V and maintain all the lights in the circuit. Should all the lights be in circuit at the time, the only effect on armature P would be to slightly depress it, so that it closes both of the passages L and 7c, and in this position it will remain until some of the lights are cutout of circuit. in this event more current is diverted through the high-resistance coils of the magnet Q, the armature l is further depressed, valve Z is opened and Z closed, upon which the pistonrod 1 is driven to the left, stem F carried to the right, and the portsf partly closed. \Vith the partial closing of the steam-ports j" the specdof the engine is reduced, so thatthe magnet Q, again loses its attractive force. Steam is consequently admitted again through passage k, which operates to accelerate the speed of the engine, and so (theoretically at least) there will be an oscillatory action of the valve mechanism, which lasts until an equilibrium is established and both passages 7; it" again closed. This point is soon reached, owing to the slow movement of the piston-rod I, so that in practice it may be said that the piston K assumes a dift'erentposition (or every change in the number of lamps in circuit or for every variation in the amount of current generated by the machine, and that this position willalways be such that the speed of the engine will bejust sntlicient to cause thedynamo-machine to generate exactly theamountof currentthat the line requires.

I have described and shown the above de- ILO vice in connection with a system of incandescent lamps arranged in multiple arc to the external circuit of the generator. In this case the regulator-magnet Q must also be included in a branched or derived circuit. When, however, the system involves a number of arc lights or other devices run in series, the magnet Q must be of low resistance and included in the direct circuit from the machine, the purpose in this latter case being to maintain the volume of current at all times constant, whatever may be the number of lamps or other devices in the circuit.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Paten t, is

1. The combination, in a regulator adapted to regulate the speed of a steam-engine used for driving a dynamoelectric machine, of a J chine driven or in a closed branch thereof, and

an armature connected with and controlling the shifting mechanism, whereby the flow of steam to the engine is regulated according to the varying attraction of the said magnet, as set forth.

2. The electric regulator consisting of the valve-chamber E, arranged for interposition in a steam-pipe and provided with the annular enlargement E, the hollowopen valve F, arranged within said chamber and provided with the portsf and stem F, the cylinder K, connected with said annular enlargement by steam-passages controlled by suitable valves arranged to admit steam alternately to opposite end of said cylinder, the piston K, playing in said cylinder and provided with pistonrod I, the oscillating lever H, loosely connected with said piston-rod and the valve-stem F, and an electro-magnet and connections, as described, for controlling the positions or" the valves governing the flow of steam from said annular enlargement E to said cylinder K.

3. The combination, with the val ve-chamber E, having the annular enlargement E, and the valve F, provided with the ports f and stem F, of the cylinder K, connected with said annular enlargement by steam-passages controlled by valves for admitting steam alternately to opposite end of said cylinder, the piston K, having the piston-rod I, the oscillating lever H, connected to said piston-rod and stem of valve F, the electro-magnet, the pivoted armature-frame carrying armature'P, the valve-stem L, the rod It, arranged between said armature-frame and said valve-stem, and the spring M, arranged substantially as described.

4. The combination, with piston-rod I, arranged for operation substantially as described, of the piston S of the dash-pot T, in which said piston plays, and means, as described, for regulating the flow of a liquid in said dash-pot from one side of the piston to the other, substantially as described.

5. The combination,'with piston-rod I, ar-

ranged for operation substantially as described, of the piston S, the dash-pot T, in which said piston plays, an adjustable rod, U, for regulating the flow of a liquid in said dashpot from one side to the other, and an electromagnet and armature connected with the said rod U, and having a projection adapted to raise the same and permit a free passage to theliquid in the dash-pot when the armature has been depressed to its lowest point, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of July, 1881.

HIRAM s. MAXIM.

Witnesses:

PARKER W. PAGE, CLAYTON KNEELAND. 

